Mumbai

Pydhonie

It is probably the best part of three hundred years since anyone
had the opportunity to wash his feet at this dusty cross-roads.
Gillian Tindall, 1982

The name Pydhonie means "foot-wash", and probably refers
to a small creek that formed at high tide between the Great Breach
(seperating the islands of Bombay and
Worli) and Umarkhadi
, the creek between Mazagaon and Bombay. This was probably the
first land
permanently reclaimed
from the sea in Bombay.

Pydhonie separates the predominantly Muslim population
of the eastern part of the inner city from the mainly Hindu part to the
west. The main landmark is the Mumbadevi Temple, moved here from the
Fort area in 1737 or 1766. The present structure was financed by a Prabhu
goldsmith called Pandurang Shivaji. Many of the older houses in this
area were built by immigrants from Gujarat and Rajasthan, and have the
murals on the walls, jharokhas,
balconies and ornate lintels typical of architecture from these states.